Involvement
by Knight Fallout
Summary: One shot. Faced with so many choices, Ashley doesn't know which one is best for the Mojave, and her own biases aren't helping. And then she's presented with a fourth option, just to make things even harder.


"Is there something _wrong_ with you?" Cass shouted. I'd explained to her what had happened in the week I'd been missing, though I'm not sure she even realised I was missing. She'd automatically reacted with disdain when I informed her that I'd been rescued by the Legion, after the NCR captured me. She reacted with swearing when I told her that I was considering siding with the Legion.

"Look at it from my point of view, okay? One group abducts me, and holds me prisoner. The other group saves me, and then compliments me a lot on how amazing I am, and that I'm exactly what they're looking for. Now, which group do you think I'd go with?" I tried to explain, but she wasn't having any of it.

"I still think you're being fucking stupid," she said, and drank from the bottle of whiskey in her hand.

"I haven't even decided yet, I could change my mind." I grabbed my hunting shotgun from where I'd propped it up against a chair. "Are you coming with me?"

"That depends. Where are you going?" She folded her arms.

"Don't worry, _mom_ , I just need to go back to the Tops. I didn't finish ransacking Benny's room, and I'm hoping he's got something valuable there," I said. Cass relaxed a little, and finished off her drink. We exited the Lucky 38, and I took a pair of sunglasses out of my pocket and put them on as we passed a group of NCR troops. I doubted they even knew who I was, they were so drunk, but it was better safe than sorry.

We weren't met by a greeter as we entered the Tops, but I then realised he could've been one of the many casualties of the first time I'd visited. No one seemed to care that I was walking around freely, though that was probably because they'd found out what Benny was really like. Or because I'd had a hat on the first time.

"What are you looking for exactly?" Cass asked, as I began to systematically go through every single cupboard and drawer in Benny's room.

"No idea. Something I can sell, because I need more money." I threw the random junk over my shoulder, checking first to make sure I didn't throw it at Cass.

"You do know we're in a casino, right?"

I paused, and looked at her. "Gambling is wrong, you know."

"Oh, but stealing a dead guy's stuff is fine?" She shook her head, though she started looking at what was lying around.

"Depends on the dead guy. See, since Benny was an asshole, this is okay."

"I can't tell when you're being serious or not," she said, and wandered off to the bedroom. A few minutes later, she shouted for me. I ran quickly to her, as she might've found something interesting. There was a door in the bedroom, which led to a secret room, and in the secret room was a securitron, with a very disturbing perpetual smiley face.

"Yeah?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips.

"Aren't you wondering what this is doing here?" She pointed to the securitron, like I hadn't noticed it.

I looked it up and down, and put my head to one side thoughtfully. "How much do you think we could get if we sold it for scrap?"

She looked at me blankly. "Ashley, you talk to the robot; I'm going to wait outside." She turned on her heels, and muttered something to herself as she walked away. I looked back to the securitron, and raised my eyebrows.

"So, hello, uh, do you have a name I could call you, or something?" I said, taking a step closer to it. It _looked_ friendly, and also terrifying, but it was a robot meant for controlling drunk people and general wrongdoers.

"Hey, hi there, good to meet you. Benny always called me Yes Man, because I'm programmed to do whatever anyone tells me to," the securitron said cheerfully.

"Whatever _anyone_ says? So, you'll do everything I say?" I asked.

"That's right!"

"Benny was more of an idiot than I thought," I muttered. I had dozens of ideas running through my head of what I could get Yes Man to do, but I knew that most of them weren't practical. "Why did Benny have you, anyway?"

"Oh, he was going to kill Mr. House and then use the Platinum Chip to copy my neuro-computational matrix onto the Lucky 38's mainframe. That would give me complete control of Mr. House's defences, particularly every single securitron, and then I'd do whatever Benny told me to," he explained.

"So _that's_ why he wanted the chip so bad. Say, do you know how he got hold of it?" I asked.

"Oh sure I do. I found out that a courier was carrying the Platinum Chip to Mr. House, and I knew exactly where Benny needed to go in order to intercept her. He shot her outside Goodsprings, and then buried her in the cemetery," he said, sounding way too cheerful. More so than he normally did.

"Well, he didn't do a very good job. I'm the courier Benny shot." I held my arms out, and bowed. Yes Man started laughing.

"I know that's not true, because you still have a head."

"No, I seriously am," I said, and his laughter petered out.

"Oh that's not funny, you getting shot. I guess I shouldn't have been so proud of how I set that up, should I?"

"Back to what you were saying earlier, about Benny's plan. Theoretically, could anyone do it? Like me, for example?" I asked.

"As long as you have the Platinum Chip, and can get access to Mr. House, then sure! And then you could be the ruler of New Vegas," he said enthusiastically. I wasn't actually considering being the ruler. I don't think I could handle that amount of responsibility, but having control over Mr. House's defences could be useful.

I fished the Platinum Chip from out of my top, where I'd put it for safekeeping. "I've already used this thing for something. There was this bunker under the Fort, and it was full of securitrons, and Caesar asked me to blow it up, so I did."

"Oh. Well, I'm sure it wasn't _that_ important. I mean, why would it be?" His cheerfulness sounded strained. "But, if you want to continue with Benny's plan-" he began to say, before I cut him off.

"As sweet as it would be, to be ruler of New Vegas, I think I'm going to have to pass. I'm not really up to that kind of thing. But if I ever change my mind, I'll come right back here." I waved, and left the room. Cass wasn't outside the room, so I assumed she'd be waiting outside the casino. I wavered as I went to open the door. I seemed to have decided to side with the Legion, but I wasn't entirely sure _why_. I wasn't so stupid as to not see what they were really like, but I didn't prefer any of the other options. I wished I didn't have to get involved.

It was strange, how much a simple delivery had escalated into me playing a key role in a war. And I hadn't even been paid for it.

* * *

 **This is a continuation from a previous one-shot, Captured. I've been wanting to write something like this for a while, but I didn't have any good ideas. And I haven't written any fanfiction for some time, but I've been busy with school. A-Levels are hard.**

 **Also, I need to learn how to make better titles, because pretty much everything I write has a one-word title that I think up after looking around my living room for a half a minute.**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it.**


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